This season, for the Chicago Bulls, is going to be one of experimentation.
Tiago Splitter likely has full license to see what Chicago has available to it on this roster—not just in terms of talent but also in terms of versatile skill sets. What players can be stretched outside of their comfort zone in order to meet the future vision of this organization? Can Patrick Williams, for example, be maximized on the defensive end of the court? Can Josh Giddey accept more of an off-ball role as Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis take on their fair share of touches in the frontcourt?
That's what the approach, especially during the first season of a rebuild, should be. But the Bulls seem to have made a mistake asking first-round selection Dailyn Swain to operate in an on-ball capacity this early in his career. He looked exceedingly shaky on Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns, and although that's likely the best path to maximizing his development in the long-term, it may be too soon to push Swain in that direction.
Chicago simply needs Swain to gain some confidence in his shot and his ability to function on an NBA court, and putting him in disadvantageous scenarios this early in his career may hinder that.
Dailyn Swain can function as a guard eventually—but for now, he should simply be getting his feet under him
This is a tale as old as time. Teams, looking to produce ball-handlers and identify the engines of their offense moving forward, saddle young players with on-ball responsibilities even if they have little to no experience in those roles. We saw the Dallas Mavericks do it with Cooper Flagg last year, even.
Flagg struggled to acclimate through the early portions of his rookie campaign, and putting him in a position where the focus of the other team's primary perimeter defenders was on him at all times certainly didn't help. Swain is no Flagg, though, and that's why it makes even less sense to force a square peg into a round hole this early in his career.
Swain had an absolutely abysmal Summer League, knocking down just 12.9% of his attempts from the field across four games. His confidence, at this point, can't be very high.
Couple that with the fact that Swain is a project shooter in the first place. He often looked hesitant to take his perimeter shots during his time at Texas, and he averaged just 2.6 attempts from beyond the arc in his final season there while converting 34.4% of them. That's fine if Chicago doesn't see him in a 3-and-D role long-term.
But we saw him routinely overthink and over-dribble with the ball in his hands against Phoenix, and the Suns' swarming, pesky guard defenders took full advantage, blitzing him and putting the pressure on whenever they got the opportunity. Swain did finish the night with six assists and three turnovers, and he converted all three of his field goal attempts over the course of the game. It certainly was an improved outing for the rookie.
But Swain is at his best—at least right now—when he's able to cut near the basket and operate on the perimeter in an off-ball capacity. If Chicago is going to make a rotation-caliber player out of him, he's going to need to gain confidence as a shooter in that role, and given the way Summer League went, that should likely come before any expansion into on-ball responsibilities.
It is, of course, the preseason, so the actual stats and results don't hold as much weight. But for a prospect like Swain, the best course of action may be to use this preseason slate as an opportunity for him to simply find his footing on an NBA court.
If he continues to struggle with the ball in his hands, those opportunities can simply come later.
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